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The International Centre for Justice and Human Rights sends an open letter to the UAE Minister of State for Tolerance on the occasion of the International Day for Tolerance

Source image: glogster.com

Geneva, November 16, 2018

On the occasion of the International Day for Tolerance, the International Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR) addressed an open letter to the Minister of State for Tolerance to raise some important issues and remind him of his obligations.

Following the adoption, in 2015, of the Decree Federal Law No. 2 on combatting hatred and extremism, the Minister of State for tolerance was appointed, in 2016, as part of a restructuring aiming to “eradicate extremism” and promote a culture of “tolerance and openness”.

The ICJHR welcomes this step but regrets the lack of commitment of the UAE government to fully implement the above mentioned law and effectively promote and defend the fundamental rights. The Centre reminded the Minister of State for Tolerance of his duty to promote the values of tolerance, pluralism, peaceful coexistence and acceptance of the other.

The letter particularly outlined that the UAE Ministry of Tolerance failed to prevent the human rights abuses and all kinds of repression of free speech. The situation in the UAE remains deeply concerning. Human rights organisations have reported a systematic pattern of violations against political opponents, human rights activists, journalists and bloggers; arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearance, deprivation of nationality, torture and ill-treatment are used to shut down dissident voices in the country.

Human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, Dr Nasser bin Ghaith and female detainee Amina al-Abdouli are among those victims. They remain in arbitrary detention and are systematically subjected to repressive measures despite the pacific nature of their action.

It seems clear that the Ministry of State for Tolerance did not stand with human rights defenders or call for their release, despite the numerous requests of the United Nations human rights mechanisms, the European Parliament and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The ICJHR called upon the Minister of State for Tolerance to quickly intervene for the immediate release of peaceful activists and stand against all human rights violations, in accordance with his mandate to promote tolerance and combat hatred and extremism.